News

Oglethorpe Bank in Brunswick, Georgia, was shut down by state regulators over the weekend. The FDIC brokered a deal with Bank of the Ozarks in Little Rock, Arkansas to take over the operations of the failed lender. The Georgia bank marks the third bank closing of 2011, just two weeks into the new year. Bank of the Ozarks has been rapidly expanding its presence in the southeastern part of the United States. This is its fifth FDIC-assisted acquisition in the area within the past year.

First Lenders Data, Inc. (FLDI) has announced the availability of FirstClose, a single-point dashboard that aggregates nationally recognized vendors and service providers online. The new solution assists mortgage lenders in complying with the new interagency regulatory appraisal and evaluation guidelines that became effective December 2010. FirstClose combines the company's existing automated valuation models (AVMs) with its Property Condition Report and AVM back-testing.

The delinquency rate on loans included in conduit and fusion U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) deals skyrocketed 79 percent over the past 12 months, according to Moody's Investors Service. Delinquencies started 2010 at 4.90 percent. By the end of December, the rate of past-due loans had hit 8.79 percent. The firm's analysts are expecting the delinquency rate to continue rising in 2011, but at a slower pace than it has over the past two years.

The number of price-reduced homes on the market in December 2010 fell by 7.7 percent from the previous month, according to a report surveying 26 major U.S. markets issued by ZipRealty. Despite the month-to-month decline, the company says the number of homes with a reduced asking price remained high compared to a year earlier, rising 23.4 percent from December 2009. The report also found that in the markets surveyed, the median list price in December was down 3.9 percent from November.

Recent data from Barclays Capital examines the ramifications of the fourth quarter foreclosure debacles on REO roll rates. Data released Friday shows the foreclosure-to-REO rate dropped 57 percent in judicial states the last few months of 2010, and dropped 42 percent in the non-judicial states. In New York, the roll rate ground to a near stop, dropping a whopping 91 percent in December when compared to the rate from January to October 2010.

Homebuyers and sellers can now search for and find local real estate agents based on ratings and reviews via Zillow.com. The company launched the ability to review agents in December, and thousands of people have weighed in. Zillow, which attracts more than 13 million visitors each month, now allows consumers to search for local agents in the Zillow directory and compare ratings and reviews to find an agent that's best for them.

Summit Valuations, LLC recently announced that the company's Market Intelligence Tool, a critical component to its quality control process, now accompanies each broker price opinion (BPO) provided to Summit clients. The Market Intelligence Tool taps into the unified data warehouse to query similar listings and sales transactions surrounding each subject property. It also integrates with Google maps to provide interactive insight into the subject property and its immediate neighborhood market conditions.

Private equity real estate funding totaled $35.8 billion globally in 2010, which is the lowest annual total since 2003, when funds raised just over $14 billion, a study found. The numbers are 28 percent lower than the $49.8 billion raised in 2009. The study, conducted by Preqin, an information company for alternative assets, examined private equity funds around the world. It found that funds with a primary focus on North America raised the most capital last year, about $22.5 billion.

Free online software for the creation of personalized mortgage modification applications under the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and other lender programs is now available from FreeMortgageFix.com. The company says paperwork is undeniably the No. 1 reason for the delays with the HAMP loan modification program and unnecessary denials, and it believes its online program is the answer.

Jones Lang LaSalle has hired Chris Casey as a managing director in Orange County. A 25-year veteran of the commercial real estate industry, Casey will facilitate financings throughout the western region of the country as part of the company's real estate investment banking team responsible for placing debt and equity for all property types.